South Sudan separated from Sudan in 2011, after two civil wars. Yet peace never truly came to the region. Soon afterwards, the Darfur conflict shook the country once again. Protests first erupted in Sudan’s Darfur region in response to the Islamisation and Arabisation policies pursued by the authorities.
To suppress the unrest, Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir sent militia units into Darfur. They killed civilians and burned villages, yet faced no punishment for their actions.
In 2023, Sudan entered a new phase of civil war – this time between rival factions within the country’s own armed forces. Darfur once again became the epicentre of fighting, triggering a humanitarian catastrophe. Millions fled to Chad and neighbouring countries. Even international humanitarian organisations hurried to leave the region. Professor Lumumba notes that the global community has largely failed to respond to the crisis, calling the conflict in Darfur a ‘forgotten war’.
